The annual convention includes several awards for chapters and individuals and the election of the state officers.

First Place Proficiency Award Winners From Local Chapters:

Proficiency awards recognize FFA members who excel as agricultural entrepreneurs, employees or volunteers while gaining hands-on career experience. Agricultural Communications is one of 50 proficiency award areas recognized at the state level. The Missouri Young Farmers and Young Farm Wives sponsored this award.

State Farmer Agribusiness, Agriscience & Placement Winners From Local Chapters:

Star Agribusiness:

Area Stars in Agribusiness are selected based upon outstanding achievement in work experience in an agricultural business as part of a student’s Supervised Agricultural Experience Program and active participation in FFA. Area 1 includes 28 chapters in the Northwest District.

MFA Inc., Columbia, sponsors the State Star in Agribusiness award as well as the area Star in Agribusiness awards.

Thomas Shifflet of the Mound City FFA Chapter as Area 1 Star in Agribusiness. His parents are Russ and Beverly Shifflett of Mound City, Mo.

Caleb Thilking of the Wellington-Napoleon FFA Chapter as Area 6 Star in Agribusiness. His parents are Dale Thilking and Tina Weigel of Napoleon, Mo.

Star Agriscience:

The State Star in Agriscience is selected from among the 7 Area Stars in Agriscience selected based upon outstanding achievement in agriscience as part of a student’s Supervised Agricultural Experience Program and active participation in FFA.

Nathan Miller of the Milan FFA Chapter as the Area 3 Star in Agriscience. His parents are Jason and S. Fern Dickerson of Milan, MO.

Katarina Grimpo of the Carrollton ACC FFA Chapter as the Area 6 Star in Agriscience. Her parents are Keith and Nichole Grimpo of Carrollton, Mo.

Miranda Allison of the Walnut Grove FFA Chapter as the Area 10 Star in Agriscience. Her parents are Bryan and Tracey Allison of Flemington, Mo.

Star Farmer:

The State Star Farmer is chosen from among the 16 Area Star Farmers based upon outstanding production agriculture in the student’s supervised agricultural experience program and active participation in FFA. Sandidge represented Area 6 in the Central District consisting of 21 chapters.

Mason Lane Sandidge of the Marshall FFA Chapter was named the State Star Farmer. His parents are Brent and Connie Sandidge of Marshall, Mo.

John Schenkel of the Northwest Technical FFA Chapter as Area 1 Star Farmer. His parents are John and Beverly Schenkel of Maryville, Mo.

Brandon W. Bothwell of the Chillicothe FFA Chapter as the Area 2 Star Farmer. His parents are Barrie and Julie Bothwell of Mooresville, Mo.

Cheyenne Hunt of the Mexico FFA Chapter as Area 4 Star Farmer. Her parents are Jimmy and Shelly Hunt of Mexico, Mo.

Mason Lane Sandidge of the Marshall FFA Chapter as Area 6 Star Farmer. His parents are Brent and Connie Sandidge of Marshall, Mo.

Star Placement:

Area Stars in Placement are selected based upon outstanding achievement in work experience in an agricultural business as part of a student’s supervised agricultural experience program and active participation in FFA. Lang represented Area 6 in the Central District consisting of 21 chapters.

Jack Lang of the Boonville FFA Chapter was named State Star in Placement. His parents are Russell and Karla Lang of Boonville, Mo.

Ben Burtch of the Chillicothe FFA Chapter as the Area 2 Star in Placement. His parents are Tony Burtch and Amy Anderson of Chillicothe, Mo.

Case White of the Newtown-Harris FFA Chapter as Area 3 Star in Placement. His parents are Shawn White and Lynn Shelton.

Zach Lee of the North Callaway FFA Chapter as the Area 4 Star in Placement. His parents are Jerry and Barb Lee of North Callaway, Mo.

Nicholas Ryan Gastler of the Audrain FFA Chapter as the Area 5 Star Placement. His parents are Sam and Sandy Gastler of Martinsburg, Mo.

Jack Lang of the Boonville FFA Chapter as Area 6 Star in Placement. His parents are Russell and Karla Lang of Boonville, Mo.

Brandon Shippy of the Crest Ridge FFA Chapter as the Area 7 Star in Placement. His parents are Chris and Amy Shippy of Centerview, Mo.

Top Chapter Awards for Local Chapters:

The top chapters are submitted to the National FFA Organization where they compete for the National FFA Chapter Award. The competition will be this fall at the 87th National FFA Convention in Louisville, Ky.

The Missouri FFA has 25,852 members representing 334 chapters. The national organization has more than 579,000 members representing 7,570 local chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The FFA makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. Only 10 percent of state chapters receive a top chapter designation each year.
Chapter activity awards, sponsored by FCS Financial, are given to chapters achieving excellence in student, chapter, and community development.

Marshall FFA was the Top Chapter Award winner out of 334 chapters in the state, at the 86th Missouri FFA Convention.The Marshall FFA Chapter advisors are Paige Brock, Callie Dobbins, and Randy Plattner.

Marshall FFA Chapter student development activities included receiving CPR, first aid, and accident responsiveness training. Other activities included recognizing members for obtaining honor roll status and displaying individual talents through trapshooting, public speaking and a bake-off.

Marshall FFA chapter development activities included raising money to award 15 $500 scholarships to FFA members. Students learned valuable fundraising skills, as well as how to plan and coordinate an event. Other activities included engaging in team-building activities and facilitating the Alumni Agriculture Skill/Knowledge Assessment Event.

Community development activities included collecting care packages to be sent to deployed soldiers, conducting an educational campaign to develop the public’s understanding of agriculture in their daily lives, and donating 592 non-perishable food items to the local food pantry.

Boonville FFA was the Model of Innovation winner in the area of Community Development and placed third in the state. The Boonville chapter advisors are Doug Henke, John Sponaugle and Deanna Thies.

The Boonville FFA student development activities included gun safety instruction for their Trap Shooting Team, a speaker night that featured retired agriculture education teacher Mr. Jim Thies, owner of The Veggie Patch, and a supervised agricultural experience fair which showcased the variety of areas can explore when choosing an SAE program.

The chapter development activities promoted excellence within the Boonville FFA Chapter. New FFA members were recruited through their Finding Future Agriculturalists program, leaders were developed through a series of teambuilding activities called Teaming Up to Lead and the chapter partnered with their local booster club to raise funds for FFA.

Boonville FFA members worked to improve their community by collecting items that directly benefited their community’s Buddy Pack Program and local homeless shelter, the Harvest House. The chapter adopted and maintained five landscape beds for the Missouri Department of Transportation, and promoted agricultural literacy to elementary students through live animal, food and non-food demonstrations.

The Chillicothe FFA student development activities included participating in fall speaking contests and partnering with the local Family, Career and Community Leaders of America Chapter for a community blood drive. Members also participated in career development events and senior members earned more than $24,000 in scholarships for higher education.

Chapter development activities are designed to promote excellence within the chapter. Chillicothe FFA chapter development activities included hosting an eighth-grade recruitment day at the Litton Agri-Science Learning Center and Labor for Support, where members completed tasks around the community to raise funds for the chapter.

Chillicothe FFA community development activities included sponsoring a petting zoo during Chillicothe’s Chautauqua in the Park event, planting the yard for the local Habitat for Humanity house recipients, and providing services to the local House of Prayer.

The Sweet Springs FFA student development activities which included “FIT-It-IN,” that promoted healthy living to members. In addition, the chapter raised funds to offset the costs of college and Washington Leadership Conference.

Sweet Springs FFA activities in chapter development included officers attending area officer training and chapter officer retreat. The chapter also promoted National FFA Week and agricultural education through local media outlets.

The Chapter’s community development events included helping eighth graders build bird houses and squirrel feeders to promote conservation. Members also hosted two community blood drives, as well as a fundraising event to send a terminally ill child on a dream wildlife hunting trip.

Student development activities included a program called Making Dollars Make Sense, through which Milan FFA could financially support the members in their program with scholarships.

Chapter development activities are designed to promote excellence within the chapter. During the Funded by Fruit fundraiser, members of the Milan FFA chapter used teamwork to sort and move fruit quickly and efficiently delivering a fresh, high quality product to their customers. The event delivered nearly $31,000 of fruit, meat and cheese products within three days.

Milan FFA community development activities included their annual Milan FFA Jackpot Show where they raised more than $5,200 to give to the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and the Cancer Research Institute of America. The money helped local citizens affected by those diseases.

Bucklin FFA student development activities included members listening to a Missouri conservation agent speak about timber stand improvement, tree harvesting safety and forestry careers at the University of Missouri Forage Systems Research Center’s Field Day.

Chapter development activities are designed to promote excellence within the chapter. Bucklin FFA chapter development activities included members visiting Dickerson Park Zoo, Fantastic Caverns and Ha Ha Tonka State Park, where they explored our state’s natural resources.

Bucklin FFA community development activities included a presentation of Food for America to the elementary classes to highlight the importance of agriculture in their daily lives. Members also competed in the Relay for Life Dance Contest and sold brownie sundaes during the event to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

Audrain County R-VI FFA placed 16th out of 334 chapters in the state. The Audrain County VI FFA Chapter advisor is Stacy French.

Their student development activities included sending their senior officers to the Washington Leadership Conference, hosting an agribusiness career tour, and going to church as a chapter during FFA week.

Chapter development activities are designed to promote excellence within the chapter. Audrain County VI FFA members hosted an eighth grade recruitment event where they met with potential members and invited them to summer activities. The chapter also hosted an officer retreat and an FFA week community breakfast.

The chapter’s community development activities included a farm safety day in which they used hands-on activities to educate the community and youth about dangers on the farm. Other activities included Adopt-a-Highway, Farm Bureau Leadership Day and Food for America.

Student development activities included students attending the Washington Leadership Conference and hosting a chapter barnwarming dance. During National FFA Week, the chapter holds a labor auction and hog roast.

Chapter development activities are designed to promote excellence within the chapter. The chapter holds an annual fruit, nut and cookie dough fundraiser and hosts a breakfast for parents, advisory committee, school board members, faculty and other community leaders.

The chapter’s community development activities included participating in the Food for America and the Adopt-A-Highway programs. The chapter also works with the American Red Cross to host an annual blood drive.

The Concordia FFA student development activities included attending Area 6 Leadership Conference. Members selected to attend the Area 6 Leadership Conference returned to their chapter where they hosted a “Leadership Development Day” in their agriculture classes to share the skills learned. Other activities included ice skating, post-secondary presentations, and scholarship awards.

Chapter development activities are designed to promote excellence within the chapter. Concordia FFA members participated in a promotional bowling night, radio interviews, and fruit sales. Chapter officers also attended the chapter officer training to increase their effectiveness as leaders of the chapter.

Concordia FFA community development activities included selling raffle tickets in conjunction with the fall festival which helps promote tourism and economic improvements within the city. Other activities included hosting a food drive, street clean-up, and promoting recycling within the community.

Slater FFA placed 34th. The Slater FFA Chapter advisor is Zach Crews.

The Slater FFA student development activities included recruiting potential new members through fun activities, and welcoming incoming eighth grade students to the chapter by showing them how to work and have fun.

Chapter development activities are designed to promote excellence within the chapter. Slater FFA members made four different recruitment visits that have increased membership from 33 percent of the high school population to 50 percent during the past five years. During these visits, the eighth grade students took part in hands-on activities that showed them the benefits of the agricultural and FFA programs at Slater High School.

The chapter’s community development activities included interviewing a local WWII veteran and listening to his stories and advice. Members also honored all four major branches of the military and POW/MIA groups, which reminded members of their freedoms and strengthened their citizenship.

Local Chapter Career Development Event Winners:

Career Development Events (CDEs) give students an opportunity to demonstrate their skills in a competitive setting.

Agricultural Issues Forum:

Teams in the Agricultural Issues Forum CDE create a presentation that focuses on an important agricultural issue faced by their community. Team members then give their presentation at least five times to community organizations before competing in the event.

The Boonville FFA Chapter won first in the FFA Agricultural Issues Forum Career Development Event (CDE). Boonville team members include Holly Brady, Kelsi Dillender, Sarah Oerly, Kaleigh Schafer, Amber Carmichael, Hannah Lefler, and Cassidy Renfrow. The Boonville advisors are Doug Henke, John Sponaugle, and Deanna Thies.